Combined feed-water heater and economizer



March 9 1926.

V. Z. CARACRISTI COMBINED FEED WATER HEATER AND ECONOMIZER 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 7. 1921 V. Z. CARACRISTI COMBINED FEED wATEE HEATER AND EcoNoMlzER- March 9 I, 1926.

s shets-sheef 2 -Filed Feb. '7,' 1921 W\ C, @@QQQQ@ @wwe/14h02; K Z. Cargar/'52?' @tto/:mm3

March 9 1926.

V. Z. CARACRISTI COMBINED FEED WATER HEATER AND ECONOMIZER Filed Feb. 7, 1921 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 y g4/wanton K Z Cargar/'527 @513:0 ttm/1 WM y CII

Patented Mar. 9, 1926.

unire srarss VV'IIEMEfINIUS Z. CARACRSTI, 0F IBRONXVILL'E, NEW YORK.

COMBINED FEEDwWATER HEATER AND ECOIN'OlVJIIZEJt.`

Application led February To all v'fo/2.0m t fm a-I/ concern .lle it known that l, VineiNrUs Z. CARA oius'rr, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Bronxville, in the county of lVcstchester and the State of New York, have invented certain new and useful lmprovements in Combined FeedVater l-leaters and Economizers, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a combined feed water heater and economizer particularly designed for use in connection with the steam boilers of locomotives. However, by the adoption of certain obvious modifications, the present invention may also be rendered applicable to steam boilers of the stationary or other types. It is the primary object and purpose of the present improvement to provide simple, novel and effective means for utilizing' the heat of the furnace gases after passing' through the boiler tubes and also the heat of the exhaust steam from the engine cylinders for the purpose of heating the boiler vfeed water before it is .admitted to the locomotive boiler. l I

To this end, in one embodiment of the invention, l provide feed water drums located within the smoke box at either one or both sides of the outlet stack and above the fire tubes ofthe boiler. A multiplicity of tubes extend longitudinally through the drum and are open at their opposite ends through which the `rases and products of combustion may freely pass as well as around the outer shell of the drum. In addition to these tubes, a plurality of steam conveying` tubes extend longitudinally through the drum and are in communication at their opposite ends with inlet and outlet headers, the inlet header being connected to the exhaust of one of the engine cylinders. Within the smoke box operatively connected damper plates are mounted, whereby when the throttle is opened and the steam is being consumed, the major portion of the products of combustion are drawn through the upper tire tubes of the boiler and then through the first named tubes of the feed Water drum. Thus,the feed water will be highly heated by the heat of the gases issuinginto the smoke box and which is, ordinarily wasted. At the same time, the exhaust steam from the engine cylinders furnishes additional heat to the feed water. Thus, the maximum boiler steam lpressure may be substantially constantly maintained and r, 1921. serial No. 443,294.

the steam supply replenished withv the consumption of a minimum` quantity of fuel. lVhen' the throttle is closed the position of the damper plates is reversed so that the products of combustion 'will be drawn through the lower fire tubes of the boiler and directed through the stack by the' nozzle 'blast without passingthrough the tubes of the feed water-drum.

In some cases'I may prefer to eliminate the tubes of the feed water preheating drum, through which the products of combustion are passed, and `utilize only the exhaust steam from the engine cylinders for the purpose of preheating the feed Water. In any case, however, it is of rst importance that the feed Water drum be mounted or arranged within the smoke box above the lire tubes of the boiler, so that unobstructed access may be had to these tubes through the smoke box for the purposeV of cleaning, repairing or replacing the same.

It is also one ofthe detail objects of my invention to-provide means lfor causing a spiral travel of the exhaust steam through ythe tubes of the feed water drum sok as to secure a constant impingement of the steam against the Vtube wall whereby the heat energy of the steam is utilized-to the greatest possible extent for the heating of the feed water. Y Y

With the above and other objects inview the invention consists in the improved form, construction and relative arrangement of the severall parts as will be hereinafter more fully described, illustrated in the accompanying,` drawings and subsequently incorporated in the accompanyingV claims.

vIn the drawings wherein I have illustrated one satisfactory and practical embodiment of the invention and in which similar refers ence characters designate corresponding parts throughout the several views:

Figure l is a vertical sectional view through the front end andthe smoke boxnof a locomotive boiler yequipped with the improved feed water heater and economizer;

Figure 2 `is a fragmentary front elevation;

Figure 8 is an end elevationof one of the feed water drums, thel steam inlet header beingl partly in section;l Figure 4 is a vertical sectionalviewtaken on the line 4 4 of Figure 3; v y

Figure 5 .is a viewsimilary to Figure 3 illustratinga slightly modified embodiment Vof the steam inlet and out-let headers;

Figuie is an enlargedfragmentary longitudinalsection through oneof the steam tubes of the feed water drum showing' the' means for causing`v4 a' spiral travel' of the' steam through said tube; l

Figure 7 is anend elevation of a pair of tubes; and

Figure 8 is a horizontal' section takcn on theline 8 8 of Figure 7.

Referring'Y` in detail t'o' the drawings and more particularly Ito' Figure 1 thereof, 5 designates theboile'r shell and 6 thev front tubeshe'et'-v thereof. The smoke` box 7, con'- nected to the front endf the boiler' maybe of" anyi approved Conventional' form and througli'thetopof this smoke box'the usual.

outlet" stack 8 for the' products. of combustion extends. The steam blast" nozzle indicated at 9 may also be of any preferred type' The super-heater header 10 is located within the' upper rear end of the smoke box and the steam super-heater units 11 connected to'saidheader extend within the upper series of fire t'ubes 12, the forward open ends of which are mounted in' the'he'ad platee. secondl series of tire'tubes 13 extending through the boiler and of relatively small `diameter are arranged below the tubes 12.

The super-heaterabove referred to constitutes n essential featurev of the kpresent invention, and may be omitted or dispensed with` if desired.

, lVitliin' the' upper portion' of the smoke box the feed water heater drums 14 are arranged and supported in any suitable manner. Preferably one of these drums is `disposed' at each side of the smoke stack 8. As thev construction of thesedrums is identical the folles-ving description' of one will sutlice for both In the end plates 15 of' the vd'rumlf the ends of a p'lu'ra'l'ityof tubes 16'V of relatively diameter are mounted. In addition to these tubes a plurality of pipes' 17 preferably of smaller diameter extend tl'irou'gh' the drum and have their open' ends mounted in the plates 15. At their forward ends these pipes comn'iunicate with a steam inlet header 18', while their rear ends are in communication with anoutlet header 19 of similar form and' construction. Between the edges of each header wall at the open side thereof and the face of the end plate 15' of the drum, a suitable packing material' 20f is arranged. As one means for securing the headers in place I have herein shown enlarged or bifurc'ated lugs 21 on the header wall to receive stud bolts 22l projecting from the plate 1 5 of the drum. Clamping nuts 23 are threaded on the' outer ends of' these bolts. By the adjustment of these nuts, the packing 2O may' be tightly compressed. so' as to effectually prevent the escape of the steam.

Each-header is provided with'a horizontal tubular extension 211 disposed through a side wall of the smoke box 7. This extension of' thev inlet heaterf is'suitaloly connected to the exhaust of one of the engine cylinders, while the discharge pipe is connected to the extension of the outlet header 19. The drum 14 is also provided'a't its lower side and at its forward end with a blow olf connection 25.

rFhe cold water is admitted to the drum l-,L aty the upper rear side thereof, as indicated at 26 and the hot feed water is conveyed through a pipe connection with the lower forward end of the 4drum at 27 to the steam boiler. Preferably, I arrange within the drum 14, spaced longitudinally extending bai'le'plates indicated by the dotted lines 28 in Figure 1, so as to cause a circuito-us passage of the water from the inlet to the outlet and thereby assure its repeated contact with the highly heated tubes or pipes 16 and 17.

A- downwardly inclined plate 29 extends transversely between the rear end of the drum 14 and the super-heater header 10 and atransversely disposed flange 30 is fixed to the tube sheet 6 below the series of fire tubes 12. A battle plate 31 is also arranged between the upper end of the blast nozzle 9 and the lower end of the stack 8 at the rear side thereof, to prevent the direct passage of the products of combustion into the stack. AitA the front side' of the nozzle 9 a forwardly and downwardly inclined transversely disposed plate 32 is arranged and upon the lower edge of this-,plate adamper plate 33 is pivoted. The pivot rod of this plate has an arm 34 fixed theretov connected by the rod 35 to a dam-per plate 36 which is adapted to engage the free edges of the plate 29 and the flange 30. These connected damper plates are actuated through the medium of a rock shaft 37 which is connected by an arm 38 to the plate 36. Any convenient operating means for the rock shaft`37, actuated from the engineers cab, may be provided.

A 4transversely disposed upwardly inclined baffle plate 39 extends from the upper edge of the baffle plate 31 and closely surrounds the lower portions of the feed water drums 14'. Forwardly of the stack 8 a wall L1() of woven wire or other reticulated material extends between the upper end ofthe plate 32 and the ballie plate 39. This wall permits the free passage of the products of combustion from the front end of the smokev box into the lower end of the stack 8, while interrupting the cinders and other particles of solid matter which collect in the front end of the smoke box.

In order to mosteffectively utilize the heat energy of the exhaust steam, I .provide means for causingv a spiral travel of the steam y through the pipes 17 of the feed water heater. In one embodiment of this means, as illustrated in Figures 6, 7 and 8 of the drawings, in each of the pipes 17 a'- spirally twisted blade 41 is inserted. These blades at their edges have frictional contact against whirling movement imparted to the body ofA steam, all portions of the steam will impinge against the pipe wall before the same finally enters the outlet header 19. Thus, the heat energy of the steam will be practically entirely absorbed and transmitted through the wall of the tubey to the feed water. The blades or bars 41 are preferably arranged in pairs, each pair of said blades being connected at its forward end bythe integral cross bar 42. This connecting bar will thus prevent the rotation of the spiral blades within the tubes 17 so that they will maintain a stationary position therein.

In Figure 5 of the drawings I have illustrated a slightly modified form ofthe headers 18 and 19, wherein each header consists of the spaced vertically disposedpipes 43, each of which is bolted or otherwise securely fixed to the end wall of the drum 14. The side of each pipe opposite to the wall of the drum has its upper portion open as at 44 and in communication with the steam conducting tubes 17. The lower ends of the pipes 43 are connectedV to a Y-union 45 to which the exhaust steam supply or discharge pipe is connected. Thus, with this type of header it will be seen that the exhaust steam is conducted through two spaced series of the pipes 17. Ity 1s apparent that in addition to the described forms of the steam supply and outlet headers various other constructions thereof might be'adopted.

From the foregoing descriptiom'the oper-y ation of my improved feed water heater and economizer will be understood as follows:

Then the steam throttle is closed, the damper plates 33 and 36 are disposed inthe positions seen in dotted lines in Figure 1 of the drawings, so that thevacuum which is created in the smoke box by the steam blast from the nozzle 9 will draw the smoke and products of combustion only through the lowerI series of lire tubes 13, thence, beneath the plate 32 into the front end of the smoke box, through the wall 40 and into the outlet stack 8. Thus, when the steam is not being consumed the products of combustion do not pass through the tubes 16 of the feed water heater. On the other hand, when the throttle is opened, the damper plates 33 and 36 are moved to the position shown in full lines in Figure 1, the plate 33 engaging at its free end with the bottom wa-ll of the smoke box, while the plate 36 is spaced from the forward ends of the plate 29 and flange 30. Therefore, it will beV apparent that the said tubes through the wall 40 and into the Voutlet stack 8. Consequently, by convection the heat of the products of combustion is transmitted through the walls of the tubes 16 Ato the watervin the drums 14.l At the same time the exhaust steam from the engine through these pipes, said pipes also become very highly heated and this heat of the exhaust steam serves to further increase the temperature of the feed water. The steam is nally discharged to the atmosphere through the outlet header 19 and its connection. It will be apparent that .when the locomotive is not fitted with a superheater and automatic damper Ycontrol suitable operating connections may be provided for the damper 'plates 33 vand 36 so that. these damper plates may be operated in proper relation to the throttle valve of the locomotive and the passage of the products of combustion through the smoke box and the tubes of the-feed water drums properlykcontrolled. Inthis manner, highly heated feed water may be vsuppliedto the locomotive boiler so that Vthe temperature of the water rtherein isnot greatly reduced, thus requiring the consumption of .but a relatively small amount of fuel in order` to convert the water into steam and maintain the maximum steam pressure. Y

The highly important and essential'consideration in the use-of such lfeed water prev Vheating drums, when arranged within the smoke box ofthe locomotive, is that they shall be located entirely above'the fire tubes of the boiler. When so arranged, asillus' cylinders enters the pipe 17 fromthe headers 18 and in the spiral passage of the steam loo trated in the accompanying drawings.-free access maylbe had through the smoke box to thefront ends-of all of the boiler lire tubes, andl it is not necessary to remove the drums or their connections from the smoke box for this purpose when it becomes necessaryeto clean, repair or replace the tubes.

I have above referred to the preheating of the feed water by utilizing the combined heating effect of-the waste gases and the" exhaust steam. I-Iowever, it is tov be considered as within the scope of the present inventionto eliminate .either one or the other of these heating means if desired. In other words, I may use only the exhaust vsteam from kthe cylinders of the locomotive, or, on the `other hand, I may utilizeonly the heatvof the waste gases. It will also beapparent that while provision may be made in the construction of the feedwaterdrums izo only for the utiliza-tion of the heat of the exhaust steam, an additional heatingL effect may be obtained by impingement of the waste gases in their passage through the smoke box upon the exterior of the feed water drums. I have also referred herein to the use of two of the feed water drums located at opposite sides of the smoke outlet stack, but it is to be understood that only one of these drums may be provided if a single drum will fulfill the requirements, and that the drum or drums might be otherwise mounted and arranged with respect to the smoke stack in the upper part of the smoke box than the particular arrangement illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

Owing to the very simple construction and arrangement of the several partsY as above described, the present` invention is readily adaptable to steam locomotives of the several types now in general use. lhile my present improvement finds its greatest practical utility when used in connection with locomotive boilers, it is not necessarily limited thereto, since by the adoption of obvious mechanical changes the fundamental principles therein involved may also be rendered applicable to steam supply boilers for stationary enginesor engines of. lother types. It is accordingly to be understood that while I have herein shown and described one practical embodiment of the invention, the same is nevertheless susceptible of construction in many other alternative forms and I accordingly reserve the privilege of adopting all suoli legitimate changes as may be fairly embodied within the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed.

I claim:

l. A feed water heater for locomotives, comprising in combination with the locomotive smoke box, a feed water drum arranged within the upper portion of the smoke box, a damper controlling the products of combustion from some of the fire tubes to allow the same to pass through said drum, a second damper, and connections between the same and said first damper whereby the second dalnper is closed by the opening of the first damper to cause the products of combustion from the remaining fire tubes to pass through the feed water drum.

2. A feed water heater for locomotives, comprising in combination with the locomotive smoke box having alternative passages therethrough for the products of combustion, a feed water drum arranged within 4one of said passages a dalnper for controlling egress of the products of combustion from the upper fire tubes through said passage, and a damper operatively connected to the first mentioned damper and controlling the flow of the products of combustion from the lower fire tubes through the other passage whereby when the first damper is opened the second damper is closed and the products of combustion from all of the tubes are caused to pass upwardly through the feed water drum.

3. A feed water heater for locomotives, comprising in combination with the locomotive smoke box having alternative passages therethrough for the products of combustion, a feed water drum arranged within one of said passages, a bodily movable damper for controlling egress of the products of combustion from the upper fire tubes through said passage damper controlling the flow of the products of combustion from the lower fire tubes through said passage, and means connected to the bodily movable damper for closing the second mentioned damper whereby when the first mentioned damper is opened all of the products of combustion pass from the tubes upwardly through the feed water drum, thence to the stack.

4. A feed water heater for locomotives, comprising in combination with the locomotive smoke box having alternative )ass-ages therethrough for the product-s of combustion, a feed water drum arranged within one of said passages, a bodily movable damper for controlling egress of the products of combustion from the upper tubes through the smoke box, a pivoted damper controlling the flow of the products of combustion from the lower tubes through the other passages, operative means connecting the two dampers whereby when the first .mentioned damper is opened the pivoted damper is closed and all of the products of combustion pass upwardly to the feed water drum, and thence to the. stack.

5. A feed wat-er heater for locomotives, comprising in combination with the locomo tive smoke box having alternative passages therethrough for the products of combustion, a feed water drum arranged within one of said passages, means for preventing egress of the products of combustion from the upper fire tubes through the smoke box, means for controlling the flow of the products of combustion fro-1n the lower fire tubes through the other passage, and means operatively controlling' said two first mentioned means whereby the products Iof combustion from all of the tubes may be caused to pass upwardly through the feed water heater.

6. A feed water heater for locomotives, comprising' in combination with the locomotive smoke box having alternative passages therethrough for the products of combustion, a feed water drum arranged in one of said passages, a stack extending from the upper end of the smoke box to one side of the drum, a series of steam receiving pipes extending longitudinally through the drum, steam inlet and outlet headers secured to opposite ends of the drum and communicating with said pipes, a plurality of tubes extending longitudinally through the drum and open at their opposite ends for the passage of the products of combustion therethrough, a damper for controlling egress of the products of combustion from the upper lire. tubes through the smoke box, a damper allowing' the products of combustion to pass directly from the lower tubes to the stack, operative means connecting the said dampers, whereby when the first mentioned damper is opened the second mentioned damper is closed to cause all of the products of combustion from the iire tubes to pass upwardly around and through the tubes of the feed water drum.

7. A feed water heater comprising in combination with a locomotive smoke box having an outlet stack and alternative passages therethrough for the products of combustion each communicating with said stack and the fire tubes of the locomotive boiler, a feed water drum mounted in one of said passages above the inlet end of the locomotive stack, means for circulating exhaust steam from one of the locomotive cylinders in heat interchanging relation with said feed water drum, and manually operable means to control the flow of the products of combustion through said passages and optionally cause aid products to be drawn from all of the boiler fire tubes only through the passage in which said druml is arranged and into heat interchanging contact with said drum, or to cause the products of combustion to be drawn only through a portion of said fire tubes and the other of said passages and hence directly into the outlet stack.

8. A feed water heater for locomotives comprising in combination with a locomo-v tive smoke box having alternative passages therethrough for the products of combustion communicating with an outlet stack, a feed water drum arranged in one of said passages, and control means optionally operable to cause the products of combustion issuing from the boiler fire tubes to wholly flow through said passage in heat interchanging contact with the feed Water drum or to close communication between said passage and the egress ends of a portion of the lire tubes and cause the products of combustion issuing from the remaining fire tubes to -flow only through the other of said passages directly to the locomotive stack.

9. A feed water heater for locomotives, comprising in combination with the locomotive smoke box having alternative passages therethrough for the products of com-` bustion, a feed water heating receptacle ar!V ucts of combustion from the balance of the fire tubes through the other passage, when the bodily movable damper is open.

10. A feed water heater for locomotives, comprising in combination with the locomotive smoke box having alternative passages therethrough for the proudcts of combustion, the feed water heating receptacle arranged within one of said passages, a bodily movable damper controlling the passage of the products of combustion from the upper lire tubes, and a damper operatively connected to the bodily movable damper for controlling the flow of the products of combustion from the lower fire tubes through the other passage', said latter damper, when closed, causing such products of combustion to pass upwardly with the products of combustion from the upper re tubes around and through the feed water heater and said latter passage being opened when the bodily movable damper is closed to permit products of combustion from the lower fire t-ubes pass through said passage directly to the outlet stack without engaging the feed water heating receptacle.

1l. A feed water heaterv for locomotives, comprising in combination with the locomotive smoke box having alternative passages therethrough for the products of combustion, a partition4 extending outwardly between the upper and lower sets of fire tubes, a transverse bodily movable damper engag ing said partition to control the passage of products of combustion from the upper set of lire tubes, a pivotally mounted damper, a rigid arm carried by the first named damper and pivotally connected to an arm carried by the pivoted damper, whereby when the bodily movable damperv is opened the other damper is closed the products of combustion from the upper and lower fire tubes pass upwardly through one of said passages into contact with the feed water heating receptacle, and when said bodily movable damper is closed the products of combustion pass from the lower fire tubes through the other of said passages directly to the outlet stack.

ln testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention, I have signed my name hereunder.

VIRGINIUS Z.- CARACRISTI. 

